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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. key — the most important part
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. key — for a lock
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cold — an illness
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. spring — of water
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. key — in music
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bulb — for light
  19. spring — the season
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cabinet — ministers

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com